WORTH NOTING ON TV

By
Alan Bunce /
November 9, 1993

* TUESDAY

Frontline (PBS, 9-10 p.m.): This often penetrating series has rushed a timely and disquieting special - ``Showdown in Haiti'' - into its schedule. It covers the ominously shifting events in Haiti as elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide looks on while military leader Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras and his allies remain in control of the country.

The program includes talks with Aristide's main financial supporter, Antoine Izmery, and Justice Minister Guy Malary - both of whom were assassinated a few days days after their ``Frontline'' interviews. The documentary begins with the meeting in July 1993 between Aristide and the military rulers at which they agreed Aristide would return by Oct. 30 - which, of course, he hasn't. On film, Aristide clearly appears unhappy with the arrangement - one that provides amnesty for his opponents - as he walks away from the meeting table.

But even Artistide's return is no guarantee of a solution to the troubled country's problems, the show indicates. Producer June Cross has stated she feels United States officials formed their policy ``without understanding the cultural dynamics at play.'' The program goes on to outline domestic pressures that played a part in President's Clinton's handling of the matter, including his relations with the Black Congressional Caucus, as well as growing popular resistance to the flow of Haitian refugees into the US.

With the President 1961-1963 (The Disney Channel, 9-10 p.m.): The president in this case is John F. Kennedy, as viewed through a series of little-seen photos and film clips by his personal photographer, Cecil Stoughton.

Stoughton's best-known image is of LBJ being sworn in on Air Force One, with Jacqueline Kennedy at his side, but this show is full of family glimpses and other intimate moments. Stoughton and others reminisce as the stories are visualized. * WEDNESDAY

US House of Representatives (C-Span, 10 a.m., E.T., to conclusion): The channel's regular live coverage.